Valentine’s Day is upon us. Some may say it is a holiday for businesses to make money from the sale of cards, flowers and gifts. But it is a day to tell someone how much you love them. If my husband told me he loved me only on Valentine’s Day then I guess it would be Valentine’s Day every day of the year. What a great goal, let it be Valentine’s Day every day! Tell your loved ones how you feel about them. I am sure they would love to hear it.

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When most people make a pumpkin pie they will use a can of pumpkin. Not my youngest daughter! A couple of weeks ago we went to a farmer’s market and she picked up a few pie pumpkins to make her famous Pumpkin Pie From a Real Pumpkin. Sure canned pumpkin is real, but she takes the time to cut the pumpkin, take out the seeds, cook the pumpkin to perfection, remove the pumpkin skin and THEN put together the pie after that. I am pretty impressed. Apparently she is making pies for all of her friends (they all asked for one) so she needs a lot of pumpkins. I think she picked up 3 that day but had purchased a few before that.

With Thanksgiving right around the corner you are going to need pumpkin pie.

Here is her delicious recipe for Perfect Pumpkin Pie:

First, cook the pumpkin (cut in half and place down on a cookie sheet with aluminum foil) at 350 degrees for 55-60 min, or until soft. Remove flesh from rind. Then follow this recipe:

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Growing up my children loved Legos! I loved playing Legos with them. While the younger kids were busy creating small buildings or different creatures, my older kids were having a Tallest Building competition. They would build as high as they could until the Legos ran out and then came the pleading for more Legos from the youngest child’s creation. When all were convinced that they should build together, it happened. The Tower from floor to ceiling. It was a masterpiece. Pictures were taken and there were smiles all around. Now, almost 15 years later, they still talk about the Tower.

I loved the bigger LEGO DUPLO Buliding Blocks because … they were bigger, took up more space between the floor and the ceiling. We could really get the towers tall and then watch them sway and hope they don’t fall over as we were building. I am still storing boxes and boxes of Legos for the grandkids. When they come to visit we will build towers to the ceilings.

As for the parents of my beautiful grandchildren, I have another Lego project for them to work on, this replica of the Salt Lake LDS Temple. These building sets were created by an LDS couple whose children loved building things with Legos and loved the temple. I am sure that putting this building set together will bring back a lot of great memories of towers to the ceiling.

If you are interested in purchasing the Salt Lake Temple replica with your family, you can purchase by Clicking here to buy now!

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One day as we were sitting at the mall food court people observing, we watched as a group of teenagers were busily talking to each other and well, being teenagers. The mall has always been a great place for teenagers to hang out. Some of the time it appears that teenagers are up to no good at the mall. Just hanging out.

These teenagers were at a table close to an island of gumball machines. When they got up to leave, one of the teenagers walked over to the gumball machine island and left something there. Then just like that, this group of teenagers went off to cruise the mall or maybe catch a movie.

We were curious. So we walked over closer to see what had been left. These were teenagers. It must have been something goofy or weird. Right?

We were wrong. When we walked over to the gumball machine. There sat 2 quarters, 50 cents right on the corner of the island. When we saw that act of kindness we were taken back. Teenagers don’t do nice things but these teenagers did and we were curious enough to see what happened that we sat there and watch would would happen next.

Sure enough a little family came by the food court to grab a bite to eat. And as children do, the two little ones were intrigued by the gumball island. They walked over and looked at every machine and every flavor trying to decide which one they would like. Then they turned the corner and saw the 2 quarters just sitting there. Not sure what to do they went over and asked their parents. I am not sure what the parents said but the children made their way back and took the quarters and were able to have a little treat at the mall thanks to some nice teenagers.

This may seem simple. After all it was only 50 cents. But it made us realize that there was good in the world and little acts of kindness can go a long way. It sure brightened our day.

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The entire Roots Tech Conference was amazing but this was the highlight for me. I MET DONNY OSMOND! I am the one in the back row with the glow on the left. After Donny’s performance we were privileged to go backstage to have this picture taken with him. Now that my excitement has been shared let me tell you about his keynote speech. It was wonderful. Here are the things I learned about Family History from Donny:

When it comes to genealogy, anyone can do it

My story is just as important to my family as his story is to his family

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The scene at the Salt Palace on the morning of February 13, 2015 was a little different than I had been expecting. The security seemed a little tighter. The crowd was enormous. Yet there I was in line trying to get my badge so that I could enter the conference hall with the thousands that were there to hear former First Lady Laura Bush. I have heard many great speakers in my lifetime, but this was an emotionally moving speech.

Great ideas I learned from former First Lady Laura Bush:

Every child should know how to read

Savor the moments with your children. They are the best of times.

The White House is a National Park

Know who you are

Spend time with your family

Always put family first

There were many other stories and lessons to be taught. What I loved most was the way that I felt as Laura Bush spoke. I was filled with love for my own family, my children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters and so many more relatives living and passed on.

When her daughter Jenna Hager came on stage with Mrs. Bush, I was pleasantly surprised to see the comfortable relationship they had even in front of a large audience. I will have to disagree on one point. Jenna asked her mother what it was like to be grandmother to the best baby in America. Being the grandmother to the best grandchildren, I am not sure how she would know. That being said, I could see that this mother and daughter had a great relationship which emphasized Laura Bush’s theme of family first.

Families are important. They are the most important thing in our lives. At the Roots Tech Conference there are thousands of people attending because of their love of family and keeping family stories alive from the past.

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My highlight for #RootsTech on the first day was the Roots Tech Opening Social. This event was sponsored by Forever.com and featured the very talented Alex Boye‘ along with the One Voice Children’s Choir and Lexi Walker. You may remember them from this little number that has received over 61 million hits on YouTube:

Alex Boye’ is one of my favorite singers and I love his story. During his performance he told of how when he was a 16 year old homeless young man on the streets of London a man gave him a lemon which turned out to be one of the greatest blessings he would ever receive. At the time he was angry because he was hungry and needed food but later in life he realized the message he was to take from that little interlude – “When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade.”

The first day of Roots Tech ended with a smash performance and a little life lesson as well.

Check out this little clip. This little girl had my attention all evening. I am sure it will make you smile. 🙂

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This year we have the opportunity to attend Roots Tech in Salt Lake City, Utah from February 12 to February 14. This convention is all about genealogy. Recently I have become very interested in my family tree so this is a great place for me to figure out how to get started discovering my ancestors. I don’t yet know what I will be learning but I am excited for the experience. If you want to know what Roots Tech is all about, check out this link: #RootsTech15

Stay tuned for all of my Roots Tech adventures and interesting things I am learning about genealogy.

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We are just a few days away from the big guy coming to our house. Santa must be preparing for a big night. This week we hung all of our stockings. It was a huge job. Twenty six stockings all hung in a row. As my husband and I started adding up the family members we were sure we had counted somebody twice or even three times. As we recalculated and wrote down each name we came to realize that 26 was the magical number. This past year we added a son in law, two granddaughters and a soon to be son in law. We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful family.

So now with all of the decorating done and stockings hung we realized that we had a huge job ahead of us. Christmas shopping!

Our grown kids are easy. It’s a surprise but we are really excited about it, but the grandchildren! What do we get for the grandchildren? Does anyone have any ideas?

I checked my list and I checked it twice and still I am unsure. Here are some of my ideas:

The grandsons are all into different things right now. So I have a couple of ideas for them. They love the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the Incredible Hulk. Those would be easy gifts for my little guys. How about this fun idea?

After I saw a train chugging around my son-in-laws Christmas tree this year I knew this would be a great idea. Every young boy needs a choo-choo train for Christmas.

But I know that every grandchild from newborn to 5 years old would love and be able to easily maneuver this great device. On sale this week, the Fire HD 7 Kids Edition.

I am amazed with the intelligence of these little children. They know how to swipe and click and handle all electronic devices. I shouldn’t be surprised though. They have some pretty smart parents.

I am still undecided. So many ideas, so little time. What are some ideas you have for your children or grandchildren? I am open for suggestions.